Recently, our class experimented with a really COOL instructional practice called "The Jigsaw Method." Interestingly, it was invented by social psychologist Elliot Aronson in 1971 in response to the racial turmoil caused by the recent school desegregation in Austin, Texas. Teachers were noticing that students were not interacting with each other, even when in the same classrooms, and pre-existing assumptions were being made about student intelligence. The Jigsaw method was devised to get students interacting with each other, learning from each other, and showcasing their own intellect. In the early 70s, it was hailed as a great equalizer. Now, we just know it to be a very effective teaching strategy. I've never used the Jigsaw Method before, so I was excited to try it. The concept is that students are put into "Home Groups," but then break into "Expert Groups" to learn about a topic. Once they are experts at one aspect of the learning, they go back to their home groups and teach it to their peers. Throughout the whole process, students interact with about ten of their peers - all while asking questions, learning together and teaching each other. Usually, this method lends itself well to science or social studies, but hey... why not math? For this task, students in each Expert Group received a specific manipulative and had to figure out a) how that manipulative can be used to teach about fractions and b) how to teach a simple game to their home group in order to increase our understanding about fractions. WOW - What a success! The expert groups were a place of asking questions, breaking down barriers and exposing pre-existing myths about math. The home groups were a place of confidence, excitement and teaching their peers what they had learned. I can't tell you how much students learned from this one math period. Common understandings about decimals and fractions were solidified, myths were debunked, and so much valuable math dialogue occurred... For instance, this was one conversation in an Expert Group as students were devising a game to teach about fractions using dominos: A: "So player #1 would flip over her domino and player #2 would flip over his domino, and the higher fraction would win - like the game of war. But you have to put the lower number on the top so that the fraction makes sense." B: "No you don't! The fraction would make sense either way! You could put the higher number as the numerator and it would make an improper fraction." A: "Well, if you put the lower number as the numerator it would make a decimal. Like 3/6 is 0.5." B: "It would make a decimal either way. 6/3 is like saying 6 divided by 3... which is 2.0." A: "Is 2.0 a decimal?" B: "Sure, why not? It's like saying two wholes and zero tenths. Or think of a different fraction... like 3/4 would be 0.75 but 4/3 would be 1.33 - still a decimal." A: "Hmmm... so the game would work if the fraction was improper OR proper?" B: "Yes! In fact, you should let the players CHOOSE which way to put the domino. That adds a whole other level to the game!" A: "Ok! Let's do that!" Then both A and B proceed to break off into their home groups and ACE the explanation, therefore leading their peers to a much deeper understanding of fractions. This occurred throughout the class, with students learning how cuisenaire rods, lego, pattern blocks, base ten blocks and dominos can be used to represent both decimals and fractions. Math confidence? #SoaringHigh Students consolidated their learning on the page below: We've also been reviewing converting between decimals and fractions (and percents for Grade 6s), simplifying fractions and creating equivalent fractions. See how much fun fractions are? I love teaching math!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Mrs JorgensenI'm a math nerd and think math jokes are funny. Not all of them though - just sum. Archives
March 2020
Categories |